The Revolt Of Vashti (from The Drama Of Mizpah) Poem Rhyme Scheme and Analysis
Rhyme Scheme: A ABACD E FAFAG A HIJKLM E NOPQRKIS A STU E VWXYLZA2SB2C2D2 A E2D2N Q AF2AD2G2AZAAJEH2AAI2 I2 A J2K2AL2AM2A E JASON2EC| AHASUERAS | A |
| - | |
| Is this the way to greet thy loving spouse | A |
| But now returned from scenes of blood and strife | B |
| I pray thee raise thy veil and let me gaze | A |
| Upon that beauty which hath greater power | C |
| To conquer me than all the arts of war | D |
| - | |
| VASHTI | E |
| - | |
| My beauty Ay my BEAUTY I do hold | F |
| In thy regard no more an honoured place | A |
| Than yonder marble pillar or the gold | F |
| And jewelled wine cup which thy lips caress | A |
| Thou wouldst degrade me in the people's sight | G |
| - | |
| AHASUERAS | A |
| - | |
| Degrade thee Vashti Rather do I seek | H |
| To show my people who are gathered here | I |
| How as the consort of so fair a queen | J |
| I feel more pride than as the mighty king | K |
| For there be many rulers on the earth | L |
| But only ONE such queen Come raise thy veil | M |
| - | |
| VASHTI | E |
| - | |
| Ay only ONE such queen A queen is one | N |
| Who shares her husband's greatness and his throne | O |
| I am no more than yonder dancing girl | P |
| Who struts and smirks before a royal court | Q |
| But I will loose my veil and loose my tongue | R |
| Now listen sire my master and my king | K |
| And let thy princes and the court give ear | I |
| 'Tis time all heard how Vashti feels her shame | S |
| - | |
| AHASUERAS | A |
| - | |
| Shame is no word to couple with thy name | S |
| Shame and a spotless woman may not meet | T |
| Even in a sentence Choose another word | U |
| - | |
| VASHTI | E |
| - | |
| Ay SHAME my lord there is no synonym | V |
| That can give voice to my ignoble state | W |
| To be a thing for eyes to gaze upon | X |
| Yet held an outcast from thy heart and mind | Y |
| To hear my beauty praised but not my worth | L |
| To come and go at Pleasure's beck and call | Z |
| While barred from Wisdom's conclaves Think ye THAT | A2 |
| A noble calling for a noble dame | S |
| Why any concubine amongst thy train | B2 |
| Could play my royal part as well as I | C2 |
| Were she as fair | D2 |
| - | |
| AHASUERAS | A |
| - | |
| Queen Vashti art thou MAD | E2 |
| I would behead another did he dare | D2 |
| To so besmirch thee with comparison | N |
| - | |
| VASHTI to the court | Q |
| - | |
| Gaze now your fill Behold Queen Vashti's eyes | A |
| How large they gleam beneath her inch of brow | F2 |
| How like a great white star her splendid face | A |
| Shines through the midnight forest of her hair | D2 |
| And see the crushed pomegranate of her mouth | G2 |
| Observe her arms her throat her gleaming breasts | A |
| Whereon the royal jewels rise and fall | Z |
| And note the crescent curving of her hips | A |
| And lovely limbs suggested 'neath her robes | A |
| Gaze gaze I say for these have made her queen | J |
| She hath no mind no heart no dignity | E |
| Worth royal recognition and regard | H2 |
| But her fair body approbation meets | A |
| And whets the sated appetite of kings | A |
| Now ye have seen what she was bid to show | I2 |
| The queen hath played her part and begs to go | I2 |
| - | |
| AHASUERAS | A |
| - | |
| Ay Vashti go and never more return | J2 |
| Not only hast thou wronged thine own true lord | K2 |
| And mocked and shamed me in the people's eyes | A |
| But thou hast wronged all princes and all men | L2 |
| By thy pernicious and rebellious ways | A |
| Queens act and subjects imitate So let | M2 |
| Queen Vashti weigh her conduct and her words | A |
| Or be no more called 'queen ' | - |
| - | |
| VASHTI | E |
| - | |
| I was a princess ere I was a queen | J |
| And worthy of a better fate than this | A |
| There lies the crown that made me queen in name | S |
| Here stands the woman wife in name alone | O |
| Now no more queen nor wife but woman still | N2 |
| Ay and a woman strong enough to be | E |
| Her own avenger | C |
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
(1)
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